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Sense and Nonsense About Crime - A Policy Guide

NCJ Number
97050
Author(s)
S Walker
Date Published
1985
Length
239 pages
Annotation
This text focuses on robberies and burglaries by adult offenders and compares the impact of various crime control proposals.
Abstract
Attention focuses on the President's Crime Commission's model of the criminal justice system, including its limitations. An alternative, the Criminal Justice 'Wedding Cake,' is proposed, with each 'layer' containing its own informal rules. The top 'layer' of the 'wedding cake' includes 'celebrated cases'; the second and third 'layer' are comprised of two general categories of felonies; the fourth 'layer' consists primarily of misdemeanors, minor theft cases, and crimes against persons or property. The effectiveness of criminal justice in controlling crime is considered, and the 'ongoing rate' of punishment in the criminal justice system is examined. Career criminals are addressed, and their identification is determined to be the test upon which career-criminal programs succeed or fail. Various strategies for locking up more criminals are examined, as are deterrence strategies, strategies for unleashing the police, and strategies for closing up criminal justice system loopholes. Further, proposals to reduce crime by protecting the rights of crime victims are evaluated. Strategies for dealing with gun-related crimes are delineated, and programs designed to rehabilitate or correct criminals are reviewed. Proposals for decriminalization and for expansion of opportunities for disadvantaged groups are analyzed. Attempts to reduce crime by changing the criminal justice system are determined to be futile; indirect attacks on crime through direct attacks on economic opportunity are recommended. Approximately 150 references, 15 tables, and 10 cartoons are included.